27-521: Saltburn Viaduct (also known as either Upleatham , Riftswood , or Skelton Beck Viaduct ) is a railway bridge in Redcar and Cleveland , North Yorkshire , England. The line was built as an extension of the Redcar and Saltburn Railway, and the viaduct is mostly built out of brick. The line opened to passengers in 1872, but became freight only in 1957, a purpose for which it still is in use for today as part of
54-487: A Community Benefit Society with 15,000 properties across Teesside and North Yorkshire. The council maintains a number of Local nature reserves . These are Guisborough Branch Walkway, Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park and Rosecroft Wood, Loftus Wood, Whitecliff Wood, Clarksons Wood, Errington Wood and Eston Moor . There are five civil parishes in the borough. The parish councils for Guisborough and Loftus have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take
81-576: A rural area surrounding the town which contains several villages. The population of the borough at the 2021 census was 107,800, of which over 86% (93,015) lived in the built-up area of Darlington itself. Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority , which has been led by the directly elected Tees Valley Mayor since 2017. The neighbouring districts are the County Durham district to
108-400: Is twinned with: Borough of Darlington The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham , England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority ; it is independent from Durham County Council . It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Darlington , where the council is based. The borough also includes
135-403: Is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire , England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996. The borough was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh , and was one of four boroughs in the non-metropolitan county of Cleveland . It was renamed Langbaurgh-on-Tees in 1988, and given its present name when Cleveland was abolished in 1996;
162-543: Is also known as Riftswood (or Rifts Wood ) Viaduct, as the area it spans is called Rifts Wood. It has also been referred to locally as Marske Mill Viaduct , as it overlooked Marske Mill to the north (a corn mill on Skelton Beck). The viaduct marks the western boundary of the Saltburn Conservation Area, and the viaduct was grade II listed in May 1999. In 2006, £446,000 (equivalent to £815,000 in 2023)
189-680: The Boulby line . Saltburn Viaduct is believed to have been designed by Thomas Elliot Harrison who was the company architect for the North Eastern Railway between 1854 and 1888. The viaduct is the model for the later built (and longer) Larpool Viaduct in Whitby , however, it was found necessary to deviate from the original plan of Saltburn Viaduct when building the one over the River Esk . The Saltburn Extension line, which connected
216-580: The County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and Durham Constabulary . Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority along with Hartlepool , Middlesbrough , Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees . Unlike Darlington, the other four districts in the combined authority had all been part of the county of Cleveland between 1974 and 1996. Darlington Borough Council provides both county-level and district-level services. Parts of
243-615: The UK's first wood-fired power station (Wilton 10), UK Wood Recycling Limited have a significant facility on the site providing waste wood to fuel Wilton 10. The Teesside Steelworks operated Europe's second largest blast furnace . The majority of the steelworks (including the Redcar blast furnace, Redcar and South Bank coke ovens and the BOS plant at Lackenby) closed in 2015, but the Teesside Beam Mill still operates, producing beams for
270-493: The borough are covered by civil parishes , which form a second tier of local government for their areas. Since 2016 the council has been a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority . The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Following the 2023 election a coalition of Labour and the Liberal Democrats formed to run the council, led by Labour councillor Steve Harker. Political control of
297-616: The borough was made a unitary authority in the same year. Redcar and Cleveland is part of the Tees Valley combined authority , which also includes the boroughs of Darlington , Middlesbrough , Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees ; the latter three were also formerly in Cleveland. Its main settlement is the town of Redcar . Other notable towns and villages include South Bank , Eston , Brotton , Guisborough , Greater Eston , Loftus , Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Skelton . The district
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#1732802416781324-431: The composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 50 councillors , representing 20 wards , each of which elects two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The council is based at Darlington Town Hall on Feethams in the centre of Darlington. The building was purpose-built for the old county borough council and
351-572: The construction industry. Coast and Country took over the ownership and management of homes from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in July 2002. In addition to providing core housing services the company has also invested in independent living services, including the development of a new Telecare service in partnership with the Borough Council. In 2018, Coast and Country merged with Yorkshire Coast Homes to form Beyond Housing Limited,
378-455: The council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: Lower-tier non-metropolitan district Unitary authority The role of mayor is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . An attempt to secure a referendum on having a directly elected mayor in 2006 was unsuccessful. The leaders since 1991 have been: Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2024,
405-428: The county council. The way this change was implemented was to create a new non-metropolitan county of Darlington covering the same area as the existing borough, but with no separate county council; instead the existing borough council took on county functions, making it a unitary authority. The borough remains part of County Durham for ceremonial purposes , with whom it continues to share certain local services, such as
432-614: The greater district of the town of Redcar is the Chemical Industry located close to Wilton village on the Chemical Industry Park known internationally as Wilton. The chemical companies are all members of the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC). The Wilton chemical site is owned by Singaporean utility company Sembcorp and companies operating there include SABIC who have recently built
459-550: The long-distance path the Cleveland Way also passing beneath the viaduct on the north bank of Skelton Beck. When opened, the viaduct had two lines, but the line was singled in 1969, eighteen years after the local passenger service to Brotton from Saltburn had ceased, and twelve years since long-distance Scarborough to Middlesbrough passenger trains were diverted away from the line. It is sometimes referred to as either Upleatham Viaduct , or Skelton Beck Viaduct . Locally it
486-571: The north and west, Stockton-on-Tees to the east and North Yorkshire to the south, the River Tees forming the border for the latter. The town of Darlington was made a municipal borough in 1867. In 1915 it was elevated to become a county borough , taking over county-level functions from Durham County Council. The borough was reformed and enlarged on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 . It absorbed nearly all of
513-557: The railway west of Saltburn to Brotton via North Skelton , was authorised in 1865 as part of the amalgamation of the Cleveland Railway into the North Eastern Railway. The viaduct is made mostly from brick, and is the only brick-surviving viaduct in the Cleveland region, others being of stone, or metal, though most have been demolished. However the footings of the viaduct's piers are made from ashlar, and
540-718: The style "town council". The north-west of the borough, corresponding to the parts that were in the County Borough of Teesside between 1968 and 1974 (including Redcar and Eston and adjoining areas), is an unparished area . The parishes are: As of 2024, the borough has 24 wards represented by 59 councillors. These are named: Belmont, Brotton , Coatham , Dormanstown , Eston , Grangetown , Guisborough , Hutton , Kirkleatham , Lockwood , Loftus , Longbeck, Newcomen, Normanby , Ormesby , Saltburn , Skelton East, Skelton West, South Bank , St Germain's, Teesville , West Dyke, Wheatlands, and Zetland. Redcar and Cleveland
567-464: The surrounding Darlington Rural District , with the exception of the parish of Great Aycliffe (which covers the town of Newton Aycliffe ) which went to Sedgefield district . The enlarged borough was also reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district as part of the 1974 reforms, with Durham County Council once more providing county-level services to the town. The council was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1997, regaining its independence from
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#1732802416781594-519: The viaduct rises to a height of 156 feet (48 m), with ten piers and eleven arches, with each arch being 60-foot (18 m) in their span. Two of the piers are set into the bed of Skelton Beck , and the viaduct extends for 738 feet (225 m) in length on a north/south axis. One writer described the build of the viaduct as being costly and difficult to construct. The viaduct carries a freight-only railway line (to Skinningrove Steelworks and Boulby Mine ) above Millfield Meadow and Skelton Beck, with
621-466: The world's largest low-density polyethylene plant (LDPE) and still operate an ethylene cracker. Lotte Chemicals are expanding both PTA and PET production. Huntsman manufacture polyurethane intermediates and Ensus have built Europe's largest bioethanol facility. Biffa Polymers now operate a polymer recycling plant that handles up to 30% of the UKs plastic milk bottles. While in support of Sembcorp, who built
648-542: Was created in 1974 as the borough of Langbaurgh, one of four districts of the new non-metropolitan county of Cleveland . It was formed from the Coatham, Eston Grange, Kirkleatham, Ormesby, Redcar and South Bank wards of the County Borough of Teesside , along with Guisborough , Loftus , Saltburn and Marske-by-the-Sea and Skelton and Brotton urban districts , from the North Riding of Yorkshire . The borough
675-440: Was named after the ancient Langbaurgh wapentake of Yorkshire . On 1 January 1988 the borough was renamed Langbaurgh-on-Tees. Cleveland County was abolished on 1 April 1996, with its districts becoming unitary authority areas. At this time Langbaurgh-on-Tees was renamed Redcar and Cleveland. Cleveland County was a two-tier local authority, with the county council being superior to its four districts, of which Langbaurgh-on-Tees
702-786: Was one. Upon becoming a unitary authority, Langbaurgh-on-Tees Borough Council was renamed Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and acquired all the full rights and duties as a county, whilst retaining the same boundaries as before. The borough had a population of 135,200 in 2011. This is a chart of trend of regional gross 'value added' of South Teesside at current basic prices by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. ^ includes hunting and forestry ^ includes energy and construction ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding The main industry within
729-462: Was spent on refurbishing the viaduct because of water ingress in some of the bricks. Repairs could not effected using modern engineering bricks as this would have created "hard spots within the structure and the potential for cracking at the interface between old and new...". A suitable brick was found from a brickworks in Birtley , Tyne and Wear . Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland
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